Shloka 50
Adhyāya 65: Dawn Assembly, Makara–Śyena Vyūhas, and Commander Engagements
एकप्रहारनिहतान् भीमसेनेन दन्तिन: । अपश्याम रणे तस्मिन् गिरीन् वज़हतानिव,महाराज! उस युद्धस्थलमें हमने वज्रके मारे हुए पर्वतोंकी भाँति भीमसेनके एक ही प्रहारसे दन्तार हाथियोंको भी मरते देखा था
ekaprahāranihatān bhīmasenena dantinaḥ | apaśyāma raṇe tasmin girīn vajrahatān iva, mahārāja ||
Sañjaya said: O King, on that battlefield we saw tusked elephants struck down by Bhīmasena with a single blow, lying like mountains shattered by a thunderbolt—an awe-inspiring display of force amid the grim ethics of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying potency of a warrior in righteous combat and uses a vivid simile to convey the scale of destruction; it implicitly reflects the Mahābhārata’s tension between kṣatriya duty in war and the human cost of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, in the battle, Bhīmasena is felling tusked elephants with single strikes, and the fallen elephants appear like mountains smashed by Indra’s thunderbolt.